Six areas in five Cebu City barangays placed under lockdown

An area in Barangay Labangon is also under lockdown. This is from Balaga Drive to Sitio Cekalco. | CDN file photo

CEBU CITY, Philippines —  Six sitios or areas in five barangays in Cebu City have been placed under lockdown by Mayor Edgardo Labella on Saturday, July 25, 2020.

Labella reposted the copy of his Executive Order No. 85 detailing the guidelines of the granular lockdown, or sitio-targeted lockdowns in the barangays on Saturday evening, hours after the documents were prematurely posted.

Read more: Garganera apologizes for premature release of locked down sitios’ list

The affected areas remain the same including Sitio Eyha in Barangay Guadalupe, Balaga Drive to Sitio Cekalco in Barangay Labangon, Tuada Compound in Barangay Tisa, Sitio San Isidro and Abellanosa Compound in Barangay Quiot, and C. Mina Extension of Barangay Mabolo.

The lockdown has been set before the reposting of the EO No. 84.

The Regional Inter-Agency Task Force in Central Visayas (RIATF-7) has decided to place the affected areas on lockdown prior to revealing them to the public to ensure that the residents remain calm prior to the lockdown.

This will make the closing of the areas easier for the Philippine National Police (PNP), Armed Forces in the Philippines (AFP), and barangays to implement the order.

Labella has ordered a stay-at-home order for all residents in the sitios under lockdown and even the Authorized Persons Outside Residence (APORS) are not allowed to leave.

The lockdown may run from 3 to 14 days depending on the cases being monitored in the sitio or until the active cases and his or her contacts prove negative to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

All households will be provided provisions as well, not food packs, but food supplies such as rice, canned goods, meat, vegetables, fish, and seasoning.

For areas where the water supply is low, the city government assures they will be provided with enough water by deploying water tankers.

“All individuals within the areas under strict lockdown are prohibited from leaving their residences. The City Government will distribute food packs and other necessities to all families affected,” said Labella.

While the areas are under lockdown, the contact tracers will be going around to swab the residents as well especially those living nearest to or within the vicinity of the active case.

The barangay will designate entry and exit points as well to ensure that the movement of government workers, police, and contact tracers are smooth in the area.

The lifting of the lockdowns will be ordered by the mayor in concurrence with the RIATF-7.

Other barangays may also request or order for their own lockdowns if a positive case is confirmed in an area./dbs